Czech Gambling Law

As we have previously mentioned on MediaWrites, as of 1 January 2017 a new Gambling Act has come into force in the Czech Republic introducing strict rules for the gambling industry, with the intention of preventing gambling addiction and associated. The Prague Posts reported that the Czech government approved new gambling laws including tax hikes that go as high as 35%. 'The government today adopted important instruments for more consistent regulation of gambling in our country. This is yet another important fulfilled pledge from the. The Czech Republic is set to modernise its gambling regulation by adopting the new Act No. 186/2016 Coll., on Gambling (the 'Gambling Act').

• Czech Republic Gambling Law
• Czech Gambling Laws
• Czech Online Gambling Law

An extract from The Gambling Law Review, 5th Edition

Overview

Under Czech law, gambling is generally defined as a game of chance, betting or a lottery in which a participant wagers a bet while no return of such bet is guaranteed, and the win or loss is entirely or partly subject to chance or unknown circumstance. This definition derives from Section 3 of Act No. 186/2016 on gambling (the Gambling Act).

The Gambling Act explicitly differentiates seven types of gambling described below (odds betting and totalisator game are counted as one because they differ only in the manner of prize determination). Any game that fulfils the general definition but does not meet the requirements of one of the below listed types of gambling is prohibited. Therefore, operators need to make sure that their games either fall into one of these seven categories or do not satisfy the general definition (e.g., no bet involved or a skill-based game); otherwise they could be risking non-compliance.

Because the above list of allowed types of gambling is exhaustive, questions arise (and will inevitably arise in future) with respect to certain games such as fantasy leagues, pool betting, spread betting, skill competitions (e-sports) and free prize draws. We give our brief view on these below, although there is no official or definitive guidance on these yet.

A free prize draw is quite similar to what Czech law traditionally considers to be 'consumer lottery' or a 'consumer game'. As such, and subject to other further conditions deriving from consumer protection laws, these types of games will be permissible. Regle du jeu de la roulette alcool. Some forms of consumer lotteries were heavily restricted and even prohibited before the adoption of the Gambling Act. The Gambling Act itself does not limit consumer lotteries from being hosted as they are deemed to be a business practice (Directive 2005/29/EC) and not within the scope of the Gambling Act (i.e., they are not a type of gambling).

Pool betting (pari-mutuel betting) is essentially the same as totalisator games as defined under the Gambling Act and, therefore, is allowed.

Spread betting is not currently being offered by any one of the major licensed Czech gambling operators. In theory, such a game could be operated under the definition of a live game, but this, along with the game's rules, would have to be discussed with the licensing authority, which is the Ministry of Finance (the Ministry).

Fantasy league is not specifically regulated by the Gambling Act as a separate type of gambling, but its operation should be allowed under the Gambling Act as long as its rules meet the criteria of a live game or a technical game.

Skill competitions, such as e-sports, are hard to pinpoint from a regulatory standpoint, since the term is wide ranging. Mere betting on an outcome of an e-sports match (or any other skill competition) is allowed, but would require an odds-betting licence. However, a game where one might bet on one's own performance (pay participation fee) and where a win or prize is paid out at the end based on the participant's results might fall under the category of a live game as defined by the Gambling Act and, therefore, could require a gambling licence in order to be operated in compliance with the Gambling Act. The amount of luck or unknown circumstance in such a game is crucial when assessing whether or not a skill game requires a gambling licence.

Hedging financial products (e.g., insurance) and gambling have a lot in common, since the outcome in both is dependent on luck or an unknown event. According to the Czech Civil Code, both fall under the category of aleatory (risky) contracts. The Civil Code further makes hedging financial contracts enforceable, unlike obligations from bets concluded between individuals (natural persons), which are not enforceable under the Civil Code. Note that bets made between a licensed gambling operator and individuals (consumers) are enforceable.

Gambling is generally allowed under the Gambling Act, with the number of licences not being limited. Each applicant for a gambling licence is entitled to obtain it, provided that the regulatory requirements are met. However, on a local level, individual municipalities may decide to restrict gambling within their city limits. Municipalities are only able to restrict land-based operations of technical games, live games, bingo and small-size tournaments. Municipalities have no influence on the operation of online gambling.

The gambling market is open to anyone who meets the Gambling Act's requirements. The Czech Republic neither owns nor operates any form of gambling.

The only exception is the 'receipt lottery', launched on 1 October 2017. This is not, however, a real 'lottery' according to the Gambling Act, since the participation in it is free of charge and open to anyone who submits a tax receipt obtained while purchasing goods or services. The intention behind the introduction of the receipt lottery is to increase tax revenues and not to compete with other gambling operators.

Gambling in the Czech Republic is predominantly regulated on a national level with some regional aspects. Generally, each person applying for a gambling licence has to obtain a 'basic licence' from the Ministry. For certain types of land-based gambling (technical game, live game and bingo), the applicant needs to obtain an additional licence to 'place a gambling venue' from each city in which the gambling venue is planned to operate. Municipalities may decide to ban the operation of technical games, live games, bingo and small-size tournaments within their city limits on a non-discriminatory basis. If a certain city bans gambling within its limits, the applicant will not be able to operate in this city. Nonetheless, the basic licence would still be valid and the gambling operator would have the option to move its venue to another city.

Additionally, small tournaments and raffles (if the prize pool is higher than 100,000 koruna) must be notified to a city in which they are supposed to be hosted, so that the city has the option to prohibit them.

One of the intentions of the Gambling Act was to give the Ministry effective means of stopping offshore gambling operators from offering their services to Czech citizens. The Ministry was granted the power to place a gambling operator without a Czech licence (e.g., a Maltese licence would not suffice) on a blacklist. Once blacklisted, payment and internet connection providers are obligated to block payments and internet connections to such entities.

To date, the Ministry has already placed over 120 web pages on the blacklist; however, 100 of them are variations on www.1xbet.com and another 11 of them are variations on www.betworld.com. Furthermore, a payment account identifier is listed in seven cases only. Apart from the blacklist provisions, most of the illegal gambling operators that used to operate in the Czech Republic prior to the effective date of the Gambling Act have voluntarily decided to withdraw from the Czech market or cease their operation until they obtain a Czech gambling licence. In 2017 and 2018, the Ministry commenced proceedings to block the web pages of 39 companies, 16 of which stopped offering their services to Czech citizens, while seven were blacklisted.

The blacklist provisions of the Gambling Act may be interpreted rather broadly and even web-hosting entities, and potentially other service providers, that enable illegal gambling may be placed on the blacklist.

Legal and regulatory framework

The relevant gambling legislation in the Czech Republic is as follows:

1. Act No. 186/2016 on Gambling, which sets out the basis for gambling legislation;
2. Act No. 187/2016 on Gambling Tax, specifying the gambling tax obligations of gambling operators (tax rate, tax calculation, tax period, etc.);
3. Act No. 280/2009 the Tax Code, which covers all tax related proceedings (gambling, income, VAT, etc.);
4. Act No. 500/2004 on the Administrative Code, specifying the rules for administrative proceedings (e.g., licencing, emplacing on the blacklist);
5. Act No. 586/1992 on Income Tax;
6. Act No. 40/2009 the Criminal Code (operation of unlicensed gambling constitutes a criminal offence);
7. Act. No 40/1995 on Regulation of Advertising;
8. Act No. 253/2008 the Anti-Money Laundering Act; and
9. individual decrees issued by municipalities restricting gambling within their city limits.

The Ministry is the gambling supervising authority. Some gambling aspects are also supervised by the Czech Customs Administration (Customs) and by the relevant local municipalities.

Customs not only supervises land-based gambling operations but it is also the entity with exclusive powers to impose fines for violations of the Gambling Act with respect to land-based gambling. The Ministry supervises both land-based and online gambling, grants, changes or withdraws basic licences but it is only authorised to impose fines with respect to online gambling violations. Last but not least, municipalities grant, change or withdraw licences for gambling venues.

The Gambling Act distinguishes between remote and land-based gambling. The most significant difference is that only a one-step licence process is required (basic licence) for the operation of online gambling. In addition to the basic licence, land-based gambling operators need to obtain a gambling venue location licence (second step). Some municipalities may decide to exclude gambling within their territory (or its part), which means that the gambling venue location licence cannot be obtained for that particular location. Online gambling may be carried out within the whole territory of the Czech Republic and cannot be restricted on a local level.

The aim of the Gambling Act is, however, to treat both online and land-based gambling equally and, therefore, the differences between the two are insignificant and usually originate from the nature of land-based gambling (e.g., no internet blocking) or online gambling (e.g., no video surveillance requirements).

The number of land-based gambling venues is not limited by any national or local quota. A municipality may, however, decide to prohibit land-based gambling within its city limits. Such restrictions have to be carried out in a non-discriminatory way. Municipalities are not allowed to choose one specific gambling operator.

With respect to types of gambling venues, there are only two types in the Czech Republic: casinos and gambling rooms (sometimes also referred to as gambling parlours).

The differences between the two are mostly seen in the legally permissible types of gambling offered, the number of slot machines and venue opening hours.

Casinos may offer live games, technical games, bingo or a combination of live games with either technical games or bingo, and may be open 24 hours a day. The number of technical game devices (slot machines) is, however, limited. If a casino intends to offer technical games, then at least 30 slot machines must be operated. For each live game table, a casino may operate an additional 10 slot machines. If 10 live game tables are operated throughout the day, then a casino may operate an unlimited number of slot machines, provided that at least 30 are already in operation. There is a minimal tax associated with the number of slot machines as stated in Section V, below.

Gambling rooms may only offer technical games and must operate at least 15 devices. A gambling room's opening hours are limited to between 10am and 3am. Municipalities may further restrict the opening hours of gambling venues by a decree.

Betting shops (venues offering sports betting or totalisator games) are not considered as gambling venues and, therefore, do not have to meet the same regulatory requirements. Lottery tickets may also be sold without any venue-specific restrictions and, therefore, lottery tickets are normally sold at post offices, tobacco shops, etc. Not even municipalities are empowered to restrict land-based sports betting, totalisator games and sales of lottery tickets within their city limits.

Remote (online) gambling is generally allowed and the same regulatory obligations as for land-based gambling apply. Only raffles and small-size tournaments may not be provided online.

Gambling operators need to obtain a basic licence for the operation of online gambling (lotteries, odds betting, totalisator games, technical games, bingo or live games).

Online gambling operators are prohibited from offering or providing any devices (tablets, etc.) to players enabling them to play an online game of chance. If this restriction were not in place, the secondary licence to place a gambling venue that grants municipalities the power to decide whether or not to allow gambling within their city limits would lose its purpose, since online gambling licences are valid within the whole territory of the Czech Republic.

Gambling operators are not required to purchase gambling equipment from licensed entities and are free to choose from a variety of national or even foreign suppliers. However, in order to use a gambling device in a gambling venue, the gambling operator has to get the gambling device certified and obtain a professional assessment and approbation of service worthiness for such a device. Certifications may be issued only by professional entities appointed by the Ministry. According to the list of appointed professional entities maintained by the Ministry (last updated on 5 March 2020), nine entities are able to issue certifications.

Only an EU- or EEA-based legal entity complying with certain statutory requirements (such as organisational requirements and transparency of ownership structure) may apply for a basic gambling licence. Individuals holding a managerial or similar position within a gambling operator do not require any specific personal licence. An applicant for a basic gambling licence must, however, demonstrate to the Ministry that it possesses substantive personnel and organisational capacity required to carry out its activity. According to the Ministry's guidance note on the basic licence application, an applicant needs to cooperate with at least five individuals who have more than three years of experience with gambling operation and provide the Ministry with excerpts of their CVs.

The Gambling Act requires gambling operators to equip gambling rooms and casinos with monitoring devices, make a back-up copy of their surveillance footage, and store the original and back-up footage for two years.

I OVERVIEW

i Definitions

Under Czech law, gambling is generally defined as a game of chance, betting or a lottery in which a participant wagers a bet while no return of such bet is guaranteed, and the win or loss is entirely or partly subject to chance or unknown circumstance. This definition derives from Section 3 of Act No. 186/2016 on gambling (the Gambling Act).

The Gambling Act explicitly differentiates seven types of gambling described below (odds betting and totalisator game are counted as one because they differ only in the manner of prize determination). Any game that fulfils the general definition but does not meet the requirements of one of the below listed types of gambling is prohibited. Therefore, operators need to make sure that their games either fall into one of these seven categories or do not satisfy the general definition (e.g., no bet involved or a skill-based game); otherwise they could be risking non-compliance.

Because the above list of allowed types of gambling is exhaustive, questions arise (and will inevitably arise in future) with respect to certain games such as fantasy leagues, pool betting, spread betting, skill competitions (e-sports) and free prize draws. We give our brief view on these below, although there is no official or definitive guidance on these yet.

A free prize draw is quite similar to what Czech law traditionally considers to be 'consumer lottery' or a 'consumer game'. As such, and subject to other further conditions deriving from consumer protection laws, these types of games will be permissible. Some forms of consumer lotteries were heavily restricted and even prohibited before the adoption of the Gambling Act.² The Gambling Act itself does not limit consumer lotteries from being hosted as they are deemed to be a business practice (Directive 2005/29/EC) and not within the scope of the Gambling Act (i.e., they are not a type of gambling).

Pool betting (pari-mutuel betting) is essentially the same as totalisator games as defined under the Gambling Act and, therefore, is allowed.

Spread betting is not currently being offered by any one of the major licensed Czech gambling operators. In theory, such a game could be operated under the definition of a live game, but this, along with the game's rules, would have to be discussed with the licensing authority, which is the Ministry of Finance (the Ministry).

Fantasy league is not specifically regulated by the Gambling Act as a separate type of gambling, but its operation should be allowed under the Gambling Act as long as its rules meet the criteria of a live game or a technical game.

Skill competitions, such as e-sports, are hard to pinpoint from a regulatory standpoint, since the term is wide ranging. Mere betting on an outcome of an e-sports match (or any other skill competition) is allowed, but would require an odds-betting licence. However, a game where one might bet on one's own performance (pay participation fee) and where a win or prize is paid out at the end based on the participant's results might fall under the category of a live game as defined by the Gambling Act and, therefore, could require a gambling licence in order to be operated in compliance with the Gambling Act. The amount of luck or unknown circumstance in such a game is crucial when assessing whether or not a skill game requires a gambling licence.

Hedging financial products (e.g., insurance) and gambling have a lot in common, since the outcome in both is dependent on luck or an unknown event. According to the Czech Civil Code, both fall under the category of aleatory (risky) contracts. The Civil Code further makes hedging financial contracts enforceable, unlike obligations from bets concluded between individuals (natural persons), which are not enforceable under the Civil Code. Note that bets made between a licensed gambling operator and individuals (consumers) are enforceable.

ii Gambling policy

Gambling is generally allowed under the Gambling Act, with the number of licences not being limited. Each applicant for a gambling licence is entitled to obtain it, provided that the regulatory requirements are met. However, on a local level, individual municipalities may decide to restrict gambling within their city limits. Municipalities are only able to restrict land-based operations of technical games, live games, bingo and small-size tournaments. Municipalities have no influence on the operation of online gambling.

Czech Republic Gambling Law

iii State control and private enterprise

The gambling market is open to anyone who meets the Gambling Act's requirements. The Czech Republic neither owns nor operates any form of gambling.

The only exception is the 'receipt lottery', launched on 1 October 2017. This is not, however, a real 'lottery' according to the Gambling Act, since the participation in it is free of charge and open to anyone who submits a tax receipt obtained while purchasing goods or services. The intention behind the introduction of the receipt lottery is to increase tax revenues and not to compete with other gambling operators.

iv Territorial issues

Gambling in the Czech Republic is predominantly regulated on a national level with some regional aspects. Generally, each person applying for a gambling licence has to obtain a 'basic licence' from the Ministry. For certain types of land-based gambling (technical game, live game and bingo), the applicant needs to obtain an additional licence to 'place a gambling venue' from each city in which the gambling venue is planned to operate. Municipalities may decide to ban the operation of technical games, live games, bingo and small-size tournaments within their city limits on a non-discriminatory basis. If a certain city bans gambling within its limits, the applicant will not be able to operate in this city. Nonetheless, the basic licence would still be valid and the gambling operator would have the option to move its venue to another city.

Additionally, small tournaments and raffles (if the prize pool is higher than 100,000 koruna) must be notified to a city in which they are supposed to be hosted, so that the city has the option to prohibit them.

v Offshore gambling

One of the intentions of the Gambling Act was to give the Ministry effective means of stopping offshore gambling operators from offering their services to Czech citizens. The Ministry was granted the power to place a gambling operator without a Czech licence (e.g., a Maltese licence would not suffice) on a blacklist. Once blacklisted, payment and internet connection providers are obligated to block payments and internet connections to such entities.

To date, the Ministry has already placed over 120 web pages on the blacklist; however, 100 of them are variations on www.1xbet.com and another 11 of them are variations on www.betworld.com. Furthermore, a payment account identifier is listed in seven cases only. Apart from the blacklist provisions, most of the illegal gambling operators that used to operate in the Czech Republic prior to the effective date of the Gambling Act have voluntarily decided to withdraw from the Czech market or cease their operation until they obtain a Czech gambling licence. In 2017 and 2018, the Ministry commenced proceedings to block the web pages of 39 companies, 16 of which stopped offering their services to Czech citizens, while seven were blacklisted.³

The blacklist provisions of the Gambling Act may be interpreted rather broadly and even web-hosting entities, and potentially other service providers, that enable illegal gambling may be placed on the blacklist.

ii LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

i Legislation and jurisprudence

The relevant gambling legislation in the Czech Republic is as follows:

1. Act No. 186/2016 on Gambling, which sets out the basis for gambling legislation;
2. Act No. 187/2016 on Gambling Tax, specifying the gambling tax obligations of gambling operators (tax rate, tax calculation, tax period, etc.);
3. Act No. 280/2009 the Tax Code, which covers all tax related proceedings (gambling, income, VAT, etc.);
4. Act No. 500/2004 on the Administrative Code, specifying the rules for administrative proceedings (e.g., licencing, emplacing on the blacklist);
5. Act No. 586/1992 on Income Tax;
6. Act No. 40/2009 the Criminal Code (operation of unlicensed gambling constitutes a criminal offence);
7. Act. No 40/1995 on Regulation of Advertising;
8. Act No. 253/2008 the Anti-Money Laundering Act; and
9. individual decrees issued by municipalities restricting gambling within their city limits.

ii The regulator

The Ministry is the gambling supervising authority. Some gambling aspects are also supervised by the Czech Customs Administration (Customs) and by the relevant local municipalities.

Customs not only supervises land-based gambling operations but it is also the entity with exclusive powers to impose fines for violations of the Gambling Act with respect to land-based gambling. The Ministry supervises both land-based and online gambling, grants, changes or withdraws basic licences but it is only authorised to impose fines with respect to online gambling violations. Last but not least, municipalities grant, change or withdraw licences for gambling venues.

iii Remote and land-based gambling

The Gambling Act distinguishes between remote and land-based gambling. The most significant difference is that only a one-step licence process is required (basic licence) for the operation of online gambling. In addition to the basic licence, land-based gambling operators need to obtain a gambling venue location licence (second step). Some municipalities may decide to exclude gambling within their territory (or its part), which means that the gambling venue location licence cannot be obtained for that particular location. Online gambling may be carried out within the whole territory of the Czech Republic and cannot be restricted on a local level.

The aim of the Gambling Act is, however, to treat both online and land-based gambling equally and, therefore, the differences between the two are insignificant and usually originate from the nature of land-based gambling (e.g., no internet blocking) or online gambling (e.g., no video surveillance requirements).

iv Land-based gambling

The number of land-based gambling venues is not limited by any national or local quota. A municipality may, however, decide to prohibit land-based gambling within its city limits. Such restrictions have to be carried out in a non-discriminatory way. Municipalities are not allowed to choose one specific gambling operator.

With respect to types of gambling venues, there are only two types in the Czech Republic: casinos and gambling rooms (sometimes also referred to as gambling parlours).

The differences between the two are mostly seen in the legally permissible types of gambling offered, the number of slot machines and venue opening hours.

Casinos may offer live games, technical games, bingo or a combination of live games with either technical games or bingo, and may be open 24 hours a day. The number of technical game devices (slot machines) is, however, limited. If a casino intends to offer technical games, then at least 30 slot machines must be operated. For each live game table, a casino may operate an additional 10 slot machines. If 10 live game tables are operated throughout the day, then a casino may operate an unlimited number of slot machines, provided that at least 30 are already in operation. There is a minimal tax associated with the number of slot machines as stated in Section V, below.

Gambling rooms may only offer technical games and must operate at least 15 devices. A gambling room's opening hours are limited to between 10am and 3am. Municipalities may further restrict the opening hours of gambling venues by a decree.

Betting shops (venues offering sports betting or totalisator games) are not considered as gambling venues and, therefore, do not have to meet the same regulatory requirements. Lottery tickets may also be sold without any venue-specific restrictions and, therefore, lottery tickets are normally sold at post offices, tobacco shops, etc. Not even municipalities are empowered to restrict land-based sports betting, totalisator games and sales of lottery tickets within their city limits.

v Remote gambling

Remote (online) gambling is generally allowed and the same regulatory obligations as for land-based gambling apply. Only raffles and small-size tournaments may not be provided online.

As far as we know, the two primary makers of bubble craps machines are Aruze Gaming and Interblock. Aruze Gaming calls their game 'Shoot to Win Craps,' and Interblock calls theirs 'Organic Craps'. First post: I apologize ahead of time if the post is a little difficult to follow. I am looking for a strategy for bubble craps but with one special caveat. I know what the come out number will be and just need a strategy based on that. The machine: $1 min - $29 max bet per roll. Bank roll: $200. I'll be the first to admit that as a longtime craps player, adjusting to the machine-based Bubble rolling can be a bit tricky. Cradling the dice in hand and letting them fly is all part of the fun, as is high-fiving and back-clapping your fellow players when the right number comes in. Bubble craps machine strategy for beginners. The over-sized, bouncing dice create quite the spectacle. The game is also known, informally, as 'craps bubble' machines. We love traditional craps, at a craps table, with the chips and the cussing and the dice you can fondle, so we spent months just walking right by the Shoot to Win Craps game.

Gambling operators need to obtain a basic licence for the operation of online gambling (lotteries, odds betting, totalisator games, technical games, bingo or live games).

Online gambling operators are prohibited from offering or providing any devices (tablets, etc.) to players enabling them to play an online game of chance. If this restriction were not in place, the secondary licence to place a gambling venue that grants municipalities the power to decide whether or not to allow gambling within their city limits would lose its purpose, since online gambling licences are valid within the whole territory of the Czech Republic.

vi Ancillary matters

Gambling operators are not required to purchase gambling equipment from licensed entities and are free to choose from a variety of national or even foreign suppliers. However, in order to use a gambling device in a gambling venue, the gambling operator has to get the gambling device certified and obtain a professional assessment and approbation of service worthiness for such a device. Certifications may be issued only by professional entities appointed by the Ministry. According to the list of appointed professional entities maintained by the Ministry (last updated on 5 March 2020), nine entities are able to issue certifications.

Only an EU- or EEA-based legal entity complying with certain statutory requirements (such as organisational requirements and transparency of ownership structure) may apply for a basic gambling licence. Individuals holding a managerial or similar position within a gambling operator do not require any specific personal licence. An applicant for a basic gambling licence must, however, demonstrate to the Ministry that it possesses substantive personnel and organisational capacity required to carry out its activity. According to the Ministry's guidance note on the basic licence application, an applicant needs to cooperate with at least five individuals who have more than three years of experience with gambling operation and provide the Ministry with excerpts of their CVs.

The Gambling Act requires gambling operators to equip gambling rooms and casinos with monitoring devices, make a back-up copy of their surveillance footage, and store the original and back-up footage for two years.

III THE LICENSING PROCESS

i Application and renewal

As outlined in Section II.iii, above, the licensing process is different for online and land-based gambling licence applications.

The land-based gambling licensing process has two steps (basic licence and venue location licence), while the online gambling licensing process has only one step (basic licence). The difference between the land-based and online licensing processes is not significant, as it mostly reflects the nature of the type of gambling.

ii Basic licence

A formal application for a basic licence has to be filed with the Ministry. The application has to be submitted with all the necessary documents specified in the Gambling Act. The documents consist of the following:

1. an excerpt from a commercial or similar register proving that the applicant:
   • is a legal entity;
   • is based in an EU or EEA Member State;
   • has established a supervisory body; and
   • is not subject to liquidation;
2. a diagram of its organisational structure containing at least a diagram of the statutory and supervisory body including their powers, other group companies and uninterrupted ownership chain showing the applicant's beneficiary owners;
3. financial statements showing that the applicant's equity amounts to at least €2 million;
4. proof of the transparent and unobjectionable origin of its resources (alternatively the applicant may request that the Ministry verify the origin of resources);
5. proof of substantive, personnel and organisational capacity of the applicant, such as CVs of relevant individuals and information on previous activities of the applicant;
6. an excerpt from the relevant insolvency register if the applicant is a foreign entity;
7. lists of executive directors, statutory and supervisory board members and beneficial owners of the applicant (and other corporate bodies if applicable) (the management);
8. proof that a 'surety' has been provided – according to the Gambling Act, the applicant has to provide a monetary surety either by making a deposit into the Ministry's account or in the form of a bank guarantee. Surety is required for every type of gambling except for raffles and small-sized tournaments, and is provided in order to cover potential unpaid winnings, unpaid taxes and fines imposed on the operator (basic licence surety). The surety is paid separately for each type of gambling and for each form of gambling (land-based or online). However, only one deposit is required if multiple games falling into the same category are operated. For example, various online games based on a random number generator (RNG), online roulette, online blackjack and online baccarat would all fall into the same category of online technical games, provided the player only plays against the house. Therefore, only one surety of 50 million koruna would be required;
9. proof of the debt-free status of the applicant and members of its statutory and supervisory body, its proctors and beneficial owners (a declaration from the Czech tax and customs authorities and from Czech national social security and healthcare agencies or equivalent documents issued by the relevant authorities of a foreign state along with their certified translations);
10. proof of the clean record of the applicant and members of its statutory and supervisory body, its proctors and beneficial owners (the Ministry is able to obtain data from the Czech Criminal Record based on provided identification data of the relevant individuals or entities);
11. a 'game plan' for each type of gambling the applicant intends to operate. The game plan shall describe the rules of each game, the drawing or winning determining process, winnings or methods of their calculation, payment methods and payout terms;
12. certification (as specified in Section II.vi, above); and
13. a document on the location of the gambling servers if a game uses an RNG.

Other documents may be required for specific types of gambling, for example, an applicant applying for land-based live games has to provide the Ministry with a sample of the casino chips set.

Czech Gambling Laws

The documents may not be older than three months at the time of submission of the application.

The Ministry issued a guideline on how to properly file and fill out a gambling licence application (available only in Czech).⁴

The basic licence may be issued for a period of up to six years and may not be transferred from one entity to another. According to the Gambling Act, a prolongation of a basic licence is not possible.

Licence fees are relatively low in the Czech Republic – for example, the fee for a basic licence is only 5,000 koruna.

The process of granting a basic licence should, according to the Code of Administrative Procedures, take 30 days (or 60 days in difficult cases). The reality, however, may be different, as the time for awarding the initial licences by the Ministry has taken longer than this.

iii Licence to place a gambling venue

For a land-based operation of bingo, technical games and live games, a subsequent licence for a gambling venue has to be obtained from a territorially relevant municipality. The application for a gambling venue licence also needs to be accompanied by the following documents required by the Gambling Act:

1. a basic licence;
2. proof that a surety has been provided. This is an additional surety and is not to be confused with the basic licence surety. This surety is calculated based on the number of gambling venues that the gambling operator intends to operate, and is different for casinos and gambling rooms. The surety for placement of each gambling room is 1 million koruna; however, the Gambling Act requires 10 million koruna as a minimum regardless of the number of gambling rooms. On the other hand, 50 million koruna is the maximum surety for placement of gambling rooms, regardless of the number of gambling rooms of one operator. Surety for each placement of each casino is 10 million koruna per casino; however, the Gambling Act requires 20 million koruna as a minimum regardless of the number of casinos of one operator. As with the gambling rooms, there is a maximum amount of surety of 50 million koruna. Sureties secure the payment of players' winnings, taxes and other duties of the gambling operators;
3. a certificate for each specific slot machine to be operated in the gambling venue;
4. a legal title to use the gambling venue (e.g., lease agreement); and
5. a scheme of the video surveillance system. This means a one-page scheme that will demonstrate that the locations of individual cameras are sufficient (specific technical requirements are not set by the Gambling Act for video surveillance systems).

The licence for a gambling venue may be granted for the term of the legal effects of the basic licence, but for no longer than three years.

The scope of both the basic licence and the licence for a gambling venue may be altered upon application.

iv Notification

Small tournaments and raffles (with prize pools higher than 100,000 koruna) have to be notified to the territorially relevant municipality, which may decide to prohibit them from taking place. The notification is administratively less demanding.

v Sanctions for non-compliance

Both natural persons and legal entities may be sanctioned for non-compliance with the Gambling Act and related gambling legislation. The Czech legislation defines two types of breaches of the law based on their severity and associated sanctions: administrative offences (less severe, usually sanctioned by a monetary fine) and criminal offences (more severe, often sanctioned by imprisonment of individuals or dissolution of legal entities).

Since gambling entails overlays to other respective fields, such as employment, advertising, tax, anti-money laundering and data protection, it is quite impossible to enumerate all the possible breaches of gambling-related legislation. Usually, breaches of ancillary legislation (advertisement, data protection, employment, etc.) will constitute only an administrative offence, which might be sanctioned by a monetary fine.

Breach of the Gambling Act might also be punished by monetary penalties, but if the breach is severe enough, then an injunction might also be used as a sanction. Additionally, if the gambling operator ceases to comply with the licensing terms, the gambling licence might be withdrawn.

Illegal operation of gambling constitutes a criminal offence in the Czech Republic. Usually, the criminal proceedings are led against Czech nationals (natural persons) who operate unlicensed land-based slot machines. It is just a matter of time until criminal proceedings are initiated with natural persons operating illegal online gambling.

Generally, even legal entities are criminally liable in the Czech Republic. Therefore, a legal entity may be criminally liable for illegal gambling operation, tax evasion or money laundering.

Furthermore, as of 1 January 2017, the Ministry has kept a list of unlicensed online games that includes the respective web page address and payment account identifier. A game can only be placed on the list based on administrative proceedings before the Ministry. Once a game is placed on the list, all internet service providers must block the web page and all payment providers must block all payments credited or debited to the relevant payment account.

IV WRONGDOING

Gambling operators must take steps to prevent crime and other wrongdoing. As of 1 January 2017, an amendment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act is effective, newly requiring gambling operators to carry out identifications of players and know-your-customer processes similar to those carried out by payment and credit institutions. Anti-money-laundering legislation is, however, very complex and outside the scope of this chapter.

V TAXATION

Gambling is subject to a special sector tax under the Gambling Tax Act. The tax basis of the gambling tax is the difference between the total value of accepted bets or wagers and the total value of paid winnings (the tax base). The gambling tax rate is 23 per cent of the tax base, with the exception of technical games and, since 1 January 2020, also lotteries that are both subject to a 35 per cent tax rate. Additionally, land-based operators of technical games have to account for a 'minimum tax' per each slot machine, which is 9,200 koruna per calendar quarter. The gambling tax is paid on a quarterly basis. Each gambling operator (even an illegal operator) is subject to gambling tax regardless of the location of its registered seat or main office.

If a gambling operator has a registered seat or main office within the territory of the Czech Republic, then it is subject to corporate income tax. The corporate income tax is 19 per cent of the net income of a company.

If a land-based gambling operator serves drinks, beverages, meals or cigarettes in the gambling venue, then it also has to pay value added tax, which is currently 21 per cent. Gambling operators are prohibited from offering free beverages or cigarettes to players.

Until the end of 2019, players' winnings were not subject to any additional taxation, provided that the players' winnings came from a game held by a licensed gambling operator with a licence from an EU or EEA Member State. Since 1 January 2020, winnings over 1 million koruna are subject to 15 per cent income tax. Each individual lottery, raffle and the state-run 'receipt lottery' winning over 1 million koruna would have to be taxed. The other types of gambling are taxed on a yearly basis if the total winnings from each of the respective types of gambling net of placed bets or wagers exceed 1 million koruna in the relevant year.

VI ADVERTISING AND MARKETING

Advertising of gambling is permitted in the Czech Republic. However, this is only true for gambling operators with a basic licence.

On 1 January 2017, the Act on Advertising was amended and introduced new gambling advertising restrictions, which specify that gambling advertisements:

1. must not target people under the age of 18 (minors);
2. must not give the impression that gambling can serve as a source of income;
3. must clearly state that minors are excluded from gambling; and
4. must include the text: 'Ministry of Finance cautions: Participation in gambling may lead to addiction!'

Natural persons and legal entities that order, manufacture or spread advertising in breach of those advertising restrictions are liable under the Act on Advertising and may face monetary fines. Advertising of illegal gambling may, depending on its volume, constitute a criminal offence as well.

Additionally, a gambling venue must not use any advertising, or display any message or any other gambling promotion for winning opportunities (including through text or audiovisual means) on the exterior of the gambling venue. A casino or a gambling room must indicate that the premises are a 'casino' or 'gambling venue' on a sign that is near the entry to the venue (only one sign is required). Windows and displays of gambling rooms must not allow anyone to see the venues' interior from the outside. Such promotional restrictions are contained in the Gambling Act and may therefore be punishable by monetary fines or even by injunctions of gambling operation (for up to two years).

vii THE YEAR IN REVIEW

In the past year, the Ministry has continued its effort to fight illegal gambling as well as to promote responsible gambling. A new 'reporting' decree was adopted by the Ministry in 2019.⁵ This allowed the launch of the first part of the IT system for gambling operation designed by the Ministry in order to regulate the gambling sector. The first part of the system should facilitate information transfer and management between the authorities and the gambling operators.

New taxes have also been imposed on gambling. First, the lottery tax paid by gambling operators was increased from 23 to 35 per cent Second, the player's winnings, which were previously tax-free, are now subject to income tax if they exceed certain limits.

Czech Online Gambling Law

Since 2017, the Czech Office for Protection of Competition has fined several municipalities for wrongfully limiting land-based gambling within their city limits. According to the Office, the municipalities limited land-based gambling operation to certain times and places without justifying the selected places based on objective, non-discriminatory and previously determined criteria.

viii OUTLOOK

There are quite a few interpretational issues with respect to the Gambling Act and especially gambling advertising (use of trademarks, sponsorships, etc.). We are hoping that the Ministry or Customs will decide to issue some additional guidelines that would help gambling operators navigate through the interpretative issues, especially with respect to advertising.

Furthermore, the Gambling Act does not expressly provide any e-sports or social gaming provisions. Nonetheless, the legal definition of a game of chance under the Gambling Act is quite wide and may even include e-sports. This issue has not yet been addressed by either the Ministry or the courts of law.

As envisaged by the Gambling Act, the Ministry has already launched the first part of an IT system for protection of citizens from gambling. As a next step, the Ministry should launch the second part of the system including a list of individuals banned from gambling (such as individuals on welfare, bankrupt individuals, etc.).

Separately, the Ministry of Finance has prepared a bill amending the Czech AML Act (No. 253/2008 Coll.) as well as the Czech Gambling Act, the aim of which is to ensure the protection of gambling customers, gambling supervision and also to provide a transparent and legally predictable business environment for gambling operators. One of the important changes is the introduction of an alternative procedure to alleviate the current requirement for face-to-face registration of players. According to the new bill, online gambling operators would be able to identify the customer if:

1. the customer provides the operator with a copy of his or her ID card and at least one other document (e.g., driving licence, employee card);
2. the operator records and verifies such data;
3. the operator concludes a contract with the customer in a written form (i.e., the content of the contract can be retained and repeatedly displayed);
4. the customer demonstrates in a credible manner the existence of a payment account in his or her name with the credit institution; and
5. the first payment is made by the customer through this account and, if the payment system allows, this payment shall be accompanied by information about the purpose of identification and identification of the operator, together with the name and surname of the customer.

These KYC tools are currently accessible only to financial institutions.

As part of the anti-covid-19 virus measures, operation of all land-based casinos and gambling rooms (as well as a number of other types of business premises) was prohibited by Government Resolution No. 199 as of 14 March 2020 until further notice. According to Czech political leaders and experts, some form of the measures could be effective for months, which could have unprecedented implications for land-based gambling operators.

Footnotes

¹ Vojtěch Chloupek is a partner and Michaela Hermanová is an associate at Bird & Bird s.r.o. advokátní kancelář.

² See Section 1 of the previously applicable Act No. 202/1990 on Lotteries and Other Like Games.

³ V Mravčík, Z Rous, P Chomynová, K Grohmannová, B Janíková, T Černíková, Z Tion Leštinová, 2019, Annual Report on Gambling in the Czech Republic in 2018, V Mravčík (Ed), Prague: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic.

⁴ Updated version of the Guidelines of Department 34 – State Supervision of Gambling and Lotteries, on Filling the Application for the Basic Licence dated 2 March 2017, ref. No. MF-30513/2016/3402-15.

⁵ Decree of the Ministry of Finance No. 10/2019 Coll., on the method for gambling operators to notify and transmit information and transfer data, the scope of the data transfer and other technical parameters of data transfer.